• Training staff on how to handle cash, and tracking payments
• Getting a lock box to safely store cash payments, and reviewing data at monthly meetings
• Letting other teams know that cash payments are possible

What can your team do to look at the care experience though the eyes of the patient? What else could your team do to make going to the doctor easier for the member? 

• Using a “blitz” approach to the work queues, when new sessions get backed up
• Mobilizing everyone to work on the same queue until the backlog decreases
• Shifting from the existing practice of everyone working in individual queues

What can your team do to tackle large issues that are creating a backlog? Where else could your team use a "blitz" approach?

• Identifying members who are eligible for colorectal screening
• Developing scripting to personalize the importance of the screening
• Creating a process for follow up with members

What can your team do to humanize your approach in talking to patients about cancer screenings? 

• Developing specialized scripts for clinical nurse assistants (CNAs), who make outreach calls to patients with hypertension, and for receptionists, who make reminder calls about check-up appointments
• Refining workflow so CNAs consistently send patients with elevated blood pressure to nurse practitioners for management
• Referring patients with complex blood pressure medication management for additional consultation

What can your team do streamline processes to meet patient care goals?

• Huddling before the clinics open for the day to determine who will buddy up in groups of two.
• Spending the day communicating with each other how the clinics’ schedules are progressing and finding out from medical assistants and nurses whether any providers are running behind.
• Delivering information to patients on waiting room delays that is as specific as possible.

What can your team do to communicate better with each other and patients? What else could your team do to make the day go smoothly?

• Tracking slide turnaround times on a white board
• Discussing turnaround times and quality assurance issues in team huddles
• Meeting weekly with the UBT’s sponsors to help with engagement and remove barriers
• Including pathologists to facilitate better communication between staff and physicians

What can your team do to remove barriers in your daily work? What else could your team do to use huddles to improve quality? 

• Creating a script to educate parents about the type and severity of pain their newborns might experience
• Articulating clearly what steps health care providers would take to manage babies’ pain
• Educating parents about pain management at admission to NICU instead of waiting until the issue arose

What can your team do to be proactive in keeping patients and their families informed during stressful times?

• Giving injections in the exam room, rather than the injection clinic
• Limiting the choice for physicians to two versions of the same vaccine to choose from—instead of several
• Huddling among medical assistants and physicians once or twice a day to determine which of their incoming patients need vaccines. Medical assistants then have the shots ready for those patients

• Gathering caregivers from a range of disciplines to meet and round on patients together
• Listening with respect
• Encouraging nurses and other care givers to speak up, ask questions and offer suggestions

What can your team do to build an environment where workers feel safe sharing ideas and concerns? What else could your team do to engage everyone in performance improvement efforts?